tag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443midnightsjanemidnightsjanemidnightsjane2017-05-27T17:25:34Ztag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:111327Garden time2017-05-27T17:25:34Z2017-05-27T17:25:34Zawakepublic1This has been such a long cold spring that getting the garden ready for planting is way overdue. Every time I started digging up the weeds it rained, and by the time I got back to it the damned weeds had grown again. This is the best weekend so far, so it's shovel and hoe time! <br />Going to head to the plant nursery this afternoon to pick up some veggie seedlings to get a headstart.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=111327" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:110864Sadness2017-05-20T19:34:25Z2017-05-20T19:34:25Zsadpublic3I am very sad today. One of our horses died unexpectedly yesterday, leaving a huge hole in our hearts. Big Girl, as Kandance was affectionately called, was 25. My friend bought her when she was 3, and she was one of the foundation mares of the farm, and Sue's show horse. She had a long and happy life with us, and we will miss her terribly.Run free, Big Girl.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=110864" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:110724Posting again!2017-05-03T21:57:17Z2017-05-03T21:57:17Zpublic1I am trying to get into the habit of checking DW on a regular basis since it seems like more of my friends have surfaced here again. It's good to have that connection back, even if it's not as regular as it used to be. ☺ I hadn't realized how I missed it.<br />I've been busy, working, trying to get the garden in (if the weather ever cooperates) all the usual things life brings.<br />On the TV front, I am really enjoying the new season of Doctor Who. I like Bill a lot, and the dynamic between Bill and the Doctor is interesting. Yay!<br />I haven't watched The Handmaid's Tale yet, because I am feeling too disturbed by all the news from the USA in this Trump era to bring myself to do so. I read the book years ago, and it haunted me for ages. To see the possibility of it becoming real is just so heart breaking. I think the real world is plenty disturbing as it is.<br />Cheerful thoughts for a rainy day, eh?<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=110724" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:110570Good afternoon2017-04-18T19:52:52Z2017-04-18T19:52:52Zpublic1Filled with new updatey zeal, I post for the second time this year.😎<br />Got out early this morning, got my hair cut, bought some new summer casual shoes, got goodies from Cobb's Breads, came home, made some mushroom barley soup, and now I am chilling with my coffee and my cat on the couch.<br />It's all good.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=110570" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:110194Happy Spring!2017-04-17T16:43:12Z2017-04-17T16:43:12Zpublic8I haven't been on LJ much in the past year, and now it seems the move to DW is on, so I decided to put in an appearance here. Greetings to all of my old friends from LJ. Don't know how much I will post, but I do feel a lot of nostalgia for the glory days when Buffy was still such a big factor, and we couldn't wait to get online to discuss and philosophize. With the 20 year anniversary of the show this year, maybe we can get some of that community feeling back.What do you think?<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=110194" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:109997May the forth be with you!2015-05-04T06:40:06Z2015-05-04T06:40:06Zaccomplishedpublic0LOL. Seriously, it's May already? Wow.<br /><br />I had a great start to the month. Yesterday my friend Sue and I went to a clinic given by the totally awesome Charlotte Dujardin, winner of the Olympic gold medal in dressage, winner of umpteen other championships with her great horse Valegro, and oh, yeah, World Champion for 2015. We have been waiting for this for almost a year, got our tickets when it was first announced last summer.<br />She was here for 4 days, but we could only afford one day...but what a day it was. For anyone interested in horses and dressage, just have a look at her freestyle ride at the London Olympic Games here: <a href="http://scottphayes.squarespace.com/charlotte-dujardin-clinic/">http://scottphayes.squarespace.com/charlotte-dujardin-clinic/</a><br /><br />To say it was inspiring would be the understatement of the year. She was warm and funny, and if I could ride even a fraction of the way she does, I'd be thrilled. We left so charged up to work even harder with our own lovely horses.<br /><br />I was exhausted by the time I got home. I had a busy couple of weeks, worked a lot, and when I wasn't at work I was out at the farm, so today I stayed home. Cleaned the apartment, did 3 loads of laundry, and when I couldn't avoid it any longer, I did my taxes. I've been procrastinating so long with the tax thing that I was almost late filing..luckily Revenue Canada screwed up some email notification and had to give us an extra 5 days to file! Whew. I finally got it all done. Gave myself a reward; sat out in the sun with tea and a book for half an hour. It was lovely.<br /><br />Went up the street for groceries, came home, made lasagna, cleaned up the mess and then watched Once Upon A Time. Now I'm officially done for the day.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=109997" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:109668Playing catchup here.2015-04-23T00:43:29Z2015-04-23T00:43:29Zbusypublic0It's been awhile. I just don't seem to have the time to put into LJ/DW on a consistent basis lately, but I do read my friends' page almost every day. So, hi!<br />Last week was super busy. We went to the big CDI Dressage show, one of the biggest they've ever had around here. It was very exciting, and we had a blast.<br />We took Seraphina, our up and coming 5 year old. She is doing training level, just starting on her dressage career, and is such a good girl. She loves to work, and was so well behaved with all the chaos; we were very, very proud. Besides that, she's beautiful, and talented, and got a lot of attention from a lot of people. She won ribbons in every class she entered; one first, a second, two thirds and a fourth. Not bad, considering she was the most inexperienced of the bunch. We were thrilled. Worth all the early mornings and all the hard work!<br /><br />I took advantage of all the tack shops, and bought myself a spiffy new coat, one that a lot of people were wearing. It's a Eurostar, long coat with a zipper up the back so you could ride in it, and is toasty warm. I really needed it, because it was rather cold last weekend. No rain, but cold winds.<br /><br />I haven't worked that much in the first part of the month what with the horse show and everything, so now I'm doing a whole bunch of shifts in the next two weeks. Worked nights last night and have another one tonight. Haven't slept much today, sadly. I had to take my car in for servicing, and it turned out I needed the brakes done...so almost $1000 later, I have yet another reason to go to work tonight! sigh<br /><br />I haven't been doing much else of late; trying to keep up with some of the shows I watch has been a bit of an effort, but I'm still watching OUAT, The Flash, Castle, and a couple of others. Really enjoying this season of Dancing With the Stars, and the Amazing Race is okay. I got my DVD of my favourite movie ever, LadyHawke in the mail the other day, and I need to find a couple of hours to watch it. And then I have to get my garden ready for planting too! I pulled weeds the other day, and by the time I got back to it they'd grown back. At least I know the soil is good for growing things!<br /><br />Now I have to eat some dinner and get ready for work.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=109668" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:109378Celebrate!2015-04-06T05:10:42Z2015-04-06T05:10:42Zcheerfulpublic0Spring is sprung, it's time to celebrate the arrival of green grass, green leaves, and the green weed patch that is my garden..it beckons me, urging me to turn the soil, pull the weeds and the left over patch of kale and collard greens, fast approaching the end of their life cycle, and begin anew. I have begun looking at seed packages, planning and plotting for the new vegetables. This year I'm going to be less eclectic and more practical; I'm only going to plant the things we actually eat a lot of, and that do well. I'm not going to try things like eggplant, or cauliflower, or cabbages..because they all have disappointed me in the past, and/or are cheap and readily available from local farmers. Instead I'm going to concentrate on things like peas, and beans, and cucumbers, and salad greens. I plan to throw a few zucchini seeds on the manure pile, and see if they grow as well as the squash did last year. I'm pretty sure I'll have another crop of squash on the pile, because I didn't harvest all the squash last fall. My garden is small, so I have to keep it simple. I have plans to make it bigger, but that entails digging up more ground, and redoing the fence (which I have to do anyway; the one I put up last year was only meant to be temporary, and it looks it). I'd like to start an herb garden, and put in some asparagus plants, and strawberries. The only limiting factor is time and energy! I am really anxious to get going, but it's still a bit cold to do too much; the soil needs some time to warm up. Soon!<br /><br />I've been keeping busy, working 2 or 3 shifts a week in CCU, lending a hand out at the farm, trying to pay more attention to my two horses in this shedding season. I spent some time grooming Midnight, and by the end he was about five pounds lighter, and the stall looked like there had been a major blizzard in it. Rochelle has a finer coat, and isn't shedding as much, but they both need attention. Everything I own is going to be covered in horse hair for the next while. :P<br /><br />We have a big horse show coming up this weekend; it's an FEI Dressage show, so there will be lots of horses from all over. We're really excited to be going; Sera is doing so well in her training, and is more than ready for this. It's going to be a very busy week for everyone. We have to organize the farm work so someone is around to help Nicole bring in the horses etc. All hands on deck, for sure. It doesn't help that poor Nicole is injured; she got thrown off her horse last weekend (the horse reared straight up, and she fell off backward; luckily the horse didn't fall on her!) She has a couple of cracked ribs, and is very sore. But she's a trooper, just keeps on going. We horse people are tough.<br /><br />Happy Easter to everyone who celebrates it!<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=109378" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:109234HAPPY PI DAY!2015-03-15T05:26:35Z2015-03-15T05:26:35Zgoodpublic0Sadly, I did not have pie. But hey, the day was good even without pie..'cause there was Pi. It will be another hundred years before these particular sets of numbers line up again, so celebrate the moment, eh? :) This comes from someone to whom mathematics will always be a mystery. One of the things I never excelled at in school, I blame my lack of math skills on the fact that I skipped grade two, and thus a big step in the math department. That's what one of my teachers told me years ago, and it sounds like a good enough excuse to me. LOL.<br /><br />It's been beautiful here; spring has arrived in full bloom. The roads are starting to look like they've been snowed on, but it's only the cherry blossoms that have been blown off the trees by the wind today. My favourite trees are the magnolias, which are really coming on now. My thoughts are turning to my garden, and what to plant. I have to redo the fence, which has not made it through the winter unscathed. Jack offered today to put in some better fence posts for me, now that I've finalized the garden area. I'm going to take him up on that, because the metal stakes I used are not really good enough. I started turning over the soil, and I need to add some more of the old composted manure....luckily, we have a never ending supply of the stuff!<br /><br />I've been busy at work, too. It was a crazy day yesterday, but good. I have to say I really enjoy working in the Cardiac Care Unit; it's different from the ICU in that there's a lot more coming and going of patients; they have a heart attack, come in for diagnosis and treatment, get their blocked arteries fixed, and go home, usually within 3 days. It's nice to have patients who actually get better and go home (not that that doesn't happen in ICU, but it's a much slower process for most of those patients). I'm also enjoying being able to talk with my patients, and having that interaction. It's not always a happy ending, we do get very sick people, but for the most part it's a lot less depressing than the ICU. It's also a lot easier physically; unlike the really sick ICU patients, the ones in CCU are usually mobile, and able to get up to the bathroom etc. I run around a lot, but I don't have to do so much heavy lifting. That's nice, especially since the tendinitis in my right shoulder seems to be flaring up again. <br /><br />I finally took my car through the car wash this week; it was getting so dirty I was embarrassed to be seen in it! Sadly, just one or two trips out to the farm and it's getting dirty again. :(<br /><br />Someone on Facebook posted a link to a review of one of my favourite movies, Ladyhawke. I loved that movie when I saw it years ago, and I've looked for a DVD, but never came across one. Tonight I found one on Amazon, so I ordered it. I was going to just stream it from them, but then I noticed that it only works in the USA. Darn. Anyway, I will have the DVD to watch whenever I want now...when I have time, that is. It's my happy spring present to myself.<br /><br />Got to quit typing now. My shoulder hurts. Must go put more Voltarin cream on it.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=109234" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:108848Greetings and Salutations!2015-01-06T06:40:13Z2015-01-06T06:40:13Zcalmpublic0About time I wrote more than a dozen words here, I think. My excuse for not doing so earlier is simple; I've been busy, and when I'm not busy, I'm lazy. <br />2014 was a very full year, what with working almost full time between CCU and ICU, helping out at the farm, trying to keep my horses happy, and generally keeping my life from coming apart at the seams when I feel like I'm going in 15 different directions at once. I really hope that this year will be a little less busy, but I suspect it will keep up the general trend.<br /><br />Last year I managed to fit in a visit with my family back in Ontario at my niece's wedding, which was really quite the event. My sister spent almost a whole year planning the thing, and it went off splendidly. (Even if my niece, who is a bit of a diva, wasn't the most gracious of brides..but that's just my opinion, and I would never say anything to my sister). It was rather shocking to realize that my siblings and I are now the "old folks" in the family. Just my Uncle Jack left of my parents' generation. Wow.<br /><br />One of the highlights of the summer was a visit with Masq and her friend Deborah when they came through the city. We had a great time seeing the sights, especially "Storybrook" (or Steveston, as the locals call it). It's always fun to have old friends come visit. Hope that happens again this year.<br /> <br />I have had no major issues with my health, for which I am grateful. Even my sprained ankle is getting better.<br /><br />The biggest focus was the ongoing construction of the new house out at the farm; a two year long event, at times a major ordeal given that we still had to keep the farm running and the horses going. We are just thiiis close to completion now. Last little bits to do in the house, which should take the rest of the month, and then we can start moving. We're not stressing over getting moved immediately; Sue and Jack are slowly getting their stuff in, and my apartment still has to have the kitchen installed, so I'm just waiting..<br />and actually quite glad not to have to move during the worst part of the winter.<br /><br />Our young horses are going well, we have 2 of the girls in serious training, and one of them is going to her first horse show the beginning of February. Very exciting.<br /><br />I have a lot of catching up to do with the various TV shows I'm watching; got behind with The 100, have a couple of episodes of Elementary to see, and I was partway through a rewatch of Farscape when I just got too busy to spend much time watching TV. I am watching the new season of Downton Abbey, and looking forward to the next part of the Once Upon A Time season. But I've been more in the mood to read a book than watch TV, so I've been doing that. I bought The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith (AKA JK Rowling); it came highly recommended by my friends who own the bookstore, so I'm looking forward to getting into that.<br /><br />I did a major sort through and culling of my books in preparation for the move; I donated somewhere in the range of 1000 books to the book bin, and I still have very full bookshelves! Felt good.<br /><br />And that's about it for now. There's a whole year to come, so I'm sure there'll be more to say..<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=108848" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:108618Merry Christmas!2014-12-25T06:00:37Z2014-12-25T06:00:37Zcheerfulpublic3Merry Christmas, my friends. I wish you all the best of times, health and happiness now, and in the year ahead.<br />:)<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=108618" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:108315Restful2014-11-16T06:56:24Z2014-11-16T06:56:24Zaccomplishedpublic2So what do I find restful after a 12 hour shift in CCU? Do I come home and collapse on the couch with a cup of tea? Well, sometimes. Tonight, though, I was more ambitious; I cooked. Went to the grocery store on my way home and bought the fixings for lasagna, and a cauliflower for soup. I finally sat down just now, dishes done(2 batches), and a lovely lasagna cooling on the counter, as well as jars filled with mellow cauliflower-cheese soup. Feeling good about it too.<br /><br />I was inspired to cook because I didn't have anything to bring for my dinner today. I figured I'd just get something in the hospital cafeteria, but when I went there it was as bare as Mother Hubbard's cupboard. Not a thing resembling food; pitiful, really. I made do with crackers and cheese. Not tomorrow! I will have lasagna.<br /><br />Then I can rush home, collapse on the couch and watch two whole hours of Once Upon a Time. Yay!<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=108315" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:108197Untitled, because I can't think of anything appropriate..2014-11-11T06:23:20Z2014-11-11T06:23:20Zbusypublic0Updatey kind of stuff:<br /><br />Finally managed to watch the Doctor Who finale, part 2. That was quite a ride, and I enjoyed it a lot. Shed some tears along the way, and now I can't wait to see what the Christmas special has in store for The Doctor and Clara.<br /><br />I worked nights this past Friday and Saturday, and I think the full moon had some influence on events. Friday night I almost got punched by one of my patients, who lost his cool rather dramatically because he'd knocked his phone off the hook and the voice kept telling him to hang up now. Have to tell you I was a bit scared, because he was really aggressive. Luckily we managed to calm him down before we had to call security. Over the years I've been sworn at, scratched, pinched, grabbed, but never punched by any of my patients. Not something I want to experience now.<br />A few hours later we found my other patient standing in the middle of what looked like the Texas chainsaw massacre. His monitor alarms went off when he climbed over the side rails of his bed in his muddled state of mind. I'd given him a half a sleeping pill, which I guess wasn't the best thing for a 78 year old gentleman. He was standing in a pool of blood, and there was blood spattered over the bed rails, the floor, him..he'd pulled out his arterial line and was literally spraying blood everywhere. I grabbed his wrist to apply pressure, while the other nurses helped him back to bed. When he finally kind of came to his senses, he was totally mortified by his actions. He said that he had no idea why he climbed out of bed, and kept apologizing. Happens a lot, we reassured him. When I left the room I looked at my arms and realized I had blood spatters on them too. Felt like I'd just walked out of a bad horror movie. Made the shift interesting. Darned full moon!<br /><br />Had to go out to the farm this morning to help with the stalls. Left here in good time..good time to get stuck on the freeway in a humungous traffic jam. Must have been a bad accident, because there were ambulances and police cars and tow trucks going by, but by the time I got past the site there was just one car in the ditch, and they were sweeping the glass off the road. Just a reminder that the roads are going to be getting slippery now that the temperature is going down.<br /><br />We've put the winter blankets on all the horses now. I put Rochelle's on today, but Midnight was being an ass and wouldn't let me catch him; he actually turned his butt to me and tried to kick me! Ungrateful creature, I only want to make sure he's got a warm coat on. We left him for today, since he was in a mood. We'll get it tomorrow.<br /><br />I have made headway on the book culling exercise. So far I've carried about 20 boxes of books to the book donation bin, and I have six more stacked in the living room to go. Still have 2 bookcases left to sort. It feels good to let go of stuff and I plan to do a lot more decluttering as I get ready to move. Not long now. Trouble with living in one place for 20 years, I've accumulated a whole lot of crap.<br /><br />Onwards.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=108197" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:107920Still sorting.2014-11-05T05:20:04Z2014-11-05T05:20:04Zbusypublic0The move to the new house is now only weeks away, so time to start sorting through the collection of stuff I've accumulated over the last 19 years in this place. Books are my focus now. So far I've sorted through one big bookcase, and two smaller ones; total number of boxes filled and taken to the book donation bin=10. So many more to go! I'm trying not to be sentimental, and not hang on to books I know I won't read again. I'm trying to decide if I should toss all those Star Trek novels (save for the few I know I will reread, like the Rhihansu novels by Diane Duane); I've let go of most of the Angel and Buffy novels, because really, most of them were pretty bad. My rule of thumb so far has been if I haven't seen the book in more than five years, I know I will never miss it...and when you have books stacked 3 deep on a shelf, there are plenty of those books.<br /><br />I have found a few hidden treasures. Just now I unearthed a copy of Berke Breathed's <b>Bloom County "Loose Tails"</b> and I found myself laughing very much out loud at the antics of his characters. I'd forgotten about Bloom County; it, along with Calvin and Hobbs were at one time the main reason I bought newspapers..for the comics.<br /><br />Good thing I'm starting this process now. I have no idea how long it's going to take. OMG. I'm a book hoarder.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=107920" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:107622Books, books & more books..2014-10-29T07:27:37Z2014-10-29T07:27:37Zdeterminedpublic0I am moving in a month or so, and in preparation for the move I decided to start culling my book collection. Just spent the last hour sorting, and I now have 3 boxes filled with books to donate. I sorted through 3 shelves of one bookcase. Those shelves are still filled with books. This is going to take awhile. Good thing I have time. I better not procrastinate as is my habit. :p<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=107622" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:107406Seraphina's day out2014-10-28T04:01:18Z2014-10-28T04:01:18Zpublic2We took our lovely four year old mare Seraphina to Thunderbird Show Park on Saturday, just so she could see the indoor arena there, and have some experience in an arena that isn't on our farm. She's going to go to a show there in January, just starting out on her dressage career. She was amazing.<br /><br />Here is a video of her ride, complete with commentary by her rider. It's on Youtube: <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxeZU64aJxw">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JxeZU64aJxw</a><br /><br />We're so proud of how good she was. Good girl, Sera!<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=107406" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:107135midnightsjane @ 2014-10-10T22:00:002014-10-11T05:27:19Z2014-10-11T05:27:19Zbusypublic0So, to catch up...<br /><br />I was going to do this last night, but I was so exhausted when I got home from work I could barely manage to make myself a cup of tea. Honestly, I felt like I'd spent the day in the middle of a whirlwind. CCU can be like that, lots of traffic in and out, patients coming in from other hospitals upcountry for angiograms and other procedures, patients being transferred from Emergency, etc. There is a lot of interventional stuff that happens in our hospital, and the focus is on getting the person having the heart attack up to the Cath lab ASAP, to have the procedure to open up any blocked arteries etc. It means that people get admitted, get treated and get discharged within a few days; it's really unlike the ICU in that regard, where the patients tend to be very sick in a different way, and end up in ICU for days or weeks. I like CCU a lot, because there is so much more interaction with the people I'm looking after; in ICU there's not a lot of opportunity for conversations with my patients as a rule, they're too sick. In CCU I've had the opportunity to talk with the people I'm nursing, to do some teaching, to listen to their worries, and I've found that quite satisfying. I get feedback too, and it's very pleasant to hear from someone that I have helped, that I've made their day easier, that my work is appreciated. A woman told me the other day that she thought I was a very professional, kind and caring nurse, and that I had a good way with people. That really does feel nice, hearing that I'm making a difference. Kind of the reason I went into nursing in the first place. But some days it can be crazy busy, and by the end of the day I'm peopled out. I was glad I didn't have to work again today.<br /><br />I went out to the farm this afternoon. I spent some time cleaning up the garden; the beans are done, and I had to pick all the green tomatoes because they're not going to ripen on the vine. I don't want to take the chance that they'll rot instead of ripen, so I'm going to let them ripen inside. Maybe try some fried green tomatoes. I pulled all the bean plants, picked the last cucumber and pulled that plant out too. Still have lots of Swiss Chard, Collard greens and Kale left, and the last planting of salad greens is growing. I have a whole mountain of squash out on the manure pile.....I picked a whole wheelbarrow full the other day and hardly made a dent. I'm thinking I may contact the local food bank to see if they want a donation of tasty fresh squash. My friends are starting to run the other way when they see me coming armed with squash. LOL. I ate a whole acorn squash for dinner tonight, with a small steak, baked potato and swiss chard. The squash was the best part of the meal.<br /><br />My horses (Midnight and Rochelle) are still out in the field. There's still lots of grass, and we feed them hay in the afternoon. Midnight is quite porky, and Rochelle has good weight, so we're letting them stay out there as long as the weather holds. We generally close the field at the end of October. I put rainsheets on both of them this afternoon, so if it rains they'll stay dry. Rochelle hasn't really worn a blanket before, but she was very good about having it put on. She tugged at the front of the sheet a few times, and ran and bucked a bit to see if it would come off, then went and ate hay. Hopefully it will still be on when I get out there tomorrow! Midnight better not teach her any of his blanket removing tricks.......<br /><br />I have to stop in at the Auto Glass repair place this week; I was driving along the other day and a rock flew up from a truck in front of me and dinged the windshield of my car. :(<br /><br />The house is getting closer and closer to completion. The Tile guys were there this week, putting down the paving stones on the patio outside my apartment, and on the patio at the back of the house, and on the path alongside the house that leads to my patio. It looks fabulous. Nearly there!<br /><br />All in all there's enough going on to keep me busy. No time to get bored, that's for sure.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=107135" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:106863Hello, October.2014-10-02T04:54:16Z2014-10-02T04:54:16Zaccomplishedpublic1Wow. October already! That was fast.<br /><br />I had a good day, all things considered. A bit of a sleep in, with a trip to my doctor's office in the early afternoon (time for the annual checkup; I seem to be in good shape for the shape I'm in), then some grocery shopping and a visit with my friend Jill. That took up most of the afternoon.<br /><br />This evening I made two pies, one savory, one sweet. A leek and potato pie, and a squash pie with the filling made from scratch using one of the squashes I grew. It's delicious, much like pumpkin pie, although the custard could be a titch more custardy. Hopefully it will set a bit more in the fridge. Otherwise I'm going to have to eat it with a spoon.. but it's tasty. Something more I can do with all the squash I have! Just now I blanched and froze a bunch of beans I picked from my garden yesterday. Susy Homemaker, that's me, LOL.<br /><br />Finally managed to see this week's Doctor Who episode, which I quite liked. I'm finding Capaldi's Doctor intriguing, and I love Clara this season. Mark me well pleased.<br /><br />I'm in the middle of a Farscape rewatch. I started awhile ago, and I'm halfway through season one. I do love this show so much!<br /><br />Tomorrow the farrier is coming to trim the horses' feet, so I have to be out there early. It's going to be a busy day.<br /><br />October is off to a good start.<br /><br />:)<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=106863" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:106658midnightsjane @ 2014-09-24T21:30:002014-09-25T04:52:35Z2014-09-25T04:52:35Zcontentpublic0That was a good night shift. I have been working in the CCU a lot over the summer, and last night was one of the first shifts in ages that we all weren't run off our feet. The patients were all stable, most of them slept, and we actually had time to play around with the new IV pumps that we went live with this week. It was nice. Things must have picked up since 7a.m., because so far today I've had calls from staffing asking if I would work a)tonight b)tomorrow days c)tomorrow night. And that was for CCU. ICU called as well. The ICU was insanely busy last night. I declined all offers, because I am booked for two nights this weekend, and I've decided I don't have to work every time they ask. I've gotten into the habit of taking on more work than I actually need to keep the finances steady, so I think I'm going to cut back just a bit. I am retired, after all. heh.<br /><br />Went for my annual mammogram this afternoon. It's a bit uncomfortable, but was over quickly, and they have the new digital imaging XRay machine so I could see the pictures on the screen. Quite neat. <br /><br />Cleaned up the apartment, made dinner, watched a little TV, finished the book I've been reading (a mystery by Rhys Bowen, quite light and enjoyable)so I can take it back to the library before I have to pay a fine, and that's about it for today.<br /><br />I'm doing a Farscape rewatch, inspired by my friend Rob's rewatch and blog about the episodes. I haven't watched it for a couple of years, but it remains one of those shows that pulls me in every time. It's truly brilliant stuff, and Ben Browder and Claudia Black have the most amazing chemistry. Love it.<br /><br />I think I'm going to have to find a copy of Frozen and watch it before the new season of Once Upon a Time starts. I really don't have any idea about the story, so I guess I'd better do the homework. Right, Masq? LOL.<br /><br />The first storm of the fall came upon us yesterday. I was out at the farm, and the sky was black as we brought the horses in. We had just finished all the work when the sky opened and water poured down. We brought my two in from the field; they weren't keen on coming in, but I didn't want them out if the night was going to be nasty. They were predicting as much as 50 mm of rain overnight in the Valley.<br /><br />I still have many squash. I'm starting to store them in the garage now, as they're winter squash and should keep. My friends are starting to avoid me! Can only push so many squash on them, LOL. The rest of my garden is still doing well and hopefully the warm fall will mean the growing season lasts into October.<br /><br />Time for my next episode of Farscape.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=106658" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:106248midnightsjane @ 2014-09-21T18:36:002014-09-22T01:52:01Z2014-09-22T01:52:01Zcalmpublic0Quiet day at the homestead. I worked last night in ICU, and by the end of the night I was so tired I could hardly drive home. Literally fell into bed. Slept for 5 hours then sat on the couch and dozed the afternoon away.<br />I did manage to get out the door to go food shopping. I'm getting a bit tired of eating squash! I have so much of it this year I'm overrun with it. Looking for recipes for squash has become my hobby. One of my colleagues is going to give me one for squash gnocchi.<br /><br />Tonight is the finale of The Amazing Race Canada. I've really enjoyed the season.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=106248" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:106043Book Meme2014-09-15T02:33:12Z2014-09-15T02:33:12Zcontemplativepublic0Because I have been busy, with just the regular real life stuff, not terribly interesting, and haven't had a lot of time, I think I'll do this meme as a way of kickstarting my journaling again.<br /><br />Via Raincitygirl, a book meme:<br /><br /><br /><br />Rules: In a text post, list ten books that have stayed with you in some way. Don’t take but a few minutes, and don’t think too hard — they don’t have to be the “right” or “great” works, just the ones that have touched you. Tag ten friends, including me, so I’ll see your list. Make sure you let your friends know you’ve tagged them! Not tagging anyone, feel free to do or do not:<br /><br />1. Lord of the Rings. A book that enchanted me from the first reading, and continues to do so after at least 25 rereads. <br /><br />2. A Tale of Two Cities. My introduction to Charles Dickens way back in high school. We read it in English Lit class in grade 10, and it opened up a whole new world for me. I haven't read it in years, but I remember it as one of the books that made me see the world differently.<br /><br />3. The Water Babies, A Fairy Tale for a Land Baby by the Reverend Charles Kingsley (I had to look it up in Wikipedia) published in 1863. I don't remember much about it, but the feeling I had when my grade 3 teacher read it to us in class remains. I was enchanted, couldn't wait for the next chapter, and I think it was responsible for instilling a love of books in me that has stayed for lo these many years.<br /><br />4. The Valdemar Series by Mercedes Lackey. Just a whole wonderful series that I return to for comfort like a warm blanket on a cold day.<br /><br />5. An Astronaut's Guide to Life on Earth. Chris Hadfield's journey from dreaming of the stars as a boy to his time on the International Space Station. Inspiring and informative...and I'm a little jealous, 'cause I've secretly always wanted to be an astronaut.<br /><br />6. Chocolat by Joanne Harris, and the followup book The Lollipop Shoes. Great characters, a hint of magic, and Paris. I found these books in an airport store and they kept me entertained on a boring flight.<br /><br />7. Poldark by Winston Graham: a whole series of historical soap opera that kept me enthralled for months. (loved the TV series, too)<br /><br />8. The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay. The first series I read by Kay, one of my favourite writers.<br /><br />9. The Beekeeper's Apprentice by Laurie R. King. The best rendition of the Sherlock Holmes mythology I know of. Love the whole series.<br /><br />10. The River That Flows Uphill, A Journey from the Big Bang to the Big Brain. A long title for a long book by William H. Calvin that uses a rafting trip down the Colorado River to explore nature, science and the wonder of life. Really fascinating. <br /><br />Doing this was a lot harder than I thought! I keep thinking of other books I've read, and how they opened up worlds to me...no wonder I have so many. I can't imagine a world without a book to read.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=106043" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:105892Fall in.2014-09-05T05:00:32Z2014-09-05T05:00:32Zbusypublic0Well, September is here, and it's feeling more like fall than summer. Although having said that, today was really hot! The long range forecast for here is a warmer than usual autumn, so I'm hoping that we'll have a good stretch of this lovely dry weather, with the odd day of rain for a bit of a change. My garden is growing so well, and if it stays nice I should have another crop of beans this month. Today I picked beans and squash and kale and swiss chard and a big tomato. It's so satisfying to sit down to dinner and know exactly where the veggies on my plate came from. Makes 'em taste even better.<br /><br />With this great weather we've been able to get a lot of jobs done out at the farm; last evening Sue and Jack finished putting the crusher dust on Jubilee's paddock, a job that must have been exhausting. Jack brought the crusher to the paddock with the Bobcat, and Sue raked it flat. Makes me think my tiredness after a busy day at work in CCU was nothing at all! The paddock looks fabulous, and it's so nice for Jubs now. It was the wettest and muckiest of the paddocks last winter, and now it's all lovely and dry. There is just a bit of fixing up in Dusty and in Florrie's paddocks, and Rochelle's paddock to do, and then we will have dry paddocks for every horse this winter. In this wet climate, that's a huge deal. No more worrying about the horses getting thrush in their hooves from the wet footing.<br /><br />They are moving along with the work in the house, too. Today they were painting the posts on the veranda, and stuff inside; I haven't been in the house for a week or so, so I'm not sure what's happening in there. I do know that the tile for the bathroom floors has been chosen; a lovely gray slate. It's getting closer and closer to moving in day, only a couple of months now. Almost time to start sorting and packing my stuff..<br /><br />Speaking of jobs, I really should be working on the one I was going to get done tonight: we are getting new IV pumps at work, and there is a tutorial and quiz online that we're expected to complete. I have tried to get to it at work, but there's never enough time, and I refuse to give up my breaks to do it, so since I found I could access the site on my own computer, I figured I'd do it tonight. Hmmm. It's already 10 p.m. Maybe I won't go there.. Damn. all the best intentions in the world, and I still manage to procrastinate long enough to avoid doing it. (Cause it's a long, and IMHO, repetitive test that could be done more efficiently by just showing us the damned pumps, but who am I to tell the PTB how to teach the staff to use the equipment?) <br /><br />Now to go take the laundry out of the dryer, and maybe do something about that test.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=105892" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:105496midnightsjane @ 2014-09-04T21:37:002014-09-05T04:40:23Z2014-09-05T04:40:23Zcheerfulpublic0Some veggies from my garden! I'm quite delighted with the way my little garden has grown, in spite of the lateness of the planting. Beans, kale, swiss chard, all doing very well indeed. I've had some nice cucumbers, some tomatoes, and green onions; the salad stuff has been a little less successful because of the heat. I've planted another crop of beans so we should have more in the fall. I'd say the biggest success has to be the squash, which magically appeared on the manure pile (see the pictures?). I tossed my kitchen scraps on the pile, and hey presto! Squash as far as the eye can see. It loves the rich soil of the manure pile, and I swear there are at least 4 different types of squash, only one of which I recognize!<br /><br />Hard to believe it's September already. Still some good growing time left, I hope. <br /><br />Since I can't get DW to post the pictures, check them out here on LJ:<br /><a href="http://midnightsjane.livejournal.com/">http://midnightsjane.livejournal.com/</a><br /><br />I roasted the white squash tonight; it has a lovely delicate yellow insides, and a very nice flavor. Yay for squash!<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=105496" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:105208When good intentions go wrong...2014-08-27T05:37:07Z2014-08-27T05:37:07Zrelievedpublic0That would be the theme for this past weekend. Happily for my peace of mind I wasn't present for the following OMFG moments at the farm (I was at work), but Sue gave me the story, as follows:<br /><br />OMFG moment #1: Friday morning she found that Kiss (the mare we got from our Vet to use as a surrogate) had kicked down one of the walls in her stall, for the third time. Kiss was okay, and luckily there wasn't a horse in the next stall. The wall got rebuilt by one of the construction crew.<br /><br />OMFG moment #2: Saturday morning Sue came out to find that either Sera or Florrie had knocked down the wall between their stalls. One of them must have rolled and kicked the wall during the night. There were boards in the stall and poor Florrie was kind of stuck in a corner. One of her legs was a little puffy, but no serious damage was done, thank heavens. Jack rebuilt the wall.<br /><br />OMGF moment(s) #3: Figuring that Kiss might like being in the field instead of her stall, they decided to bring Midnight in and put him in his paddock and put Kiss out in the field with Rochelle on Sunday. Sue, Jack and Nicole made the change and watched to make sure the horses were okay...except it all went wrong. Kiss took one look at Rochelle and kicked her hard, then took off down the field. Poor Rochelle went over to stand by herself out of Kiss's way, not making any trouble at all. Kiss deliberately went over to Rochelle and proceeded to kick the crap out of my poor girl. Midnight was going beserk in his paddock, crashed into the fence and broke it. Nicole was in tears, and Sue was trying to keep everyone calm. They managed to grab Midnight and get him inside to his stall, and then got Kiss out of the field, and poor Rochelle too. They all went into their stalls while Jack fixed the fence. It was a pretty traumatic hour or so, and pretty much put paid to any thought that Kiss would get along with my horses! She is on probation now. Stall to paddock, no field for her. We're seriously rethinking whether we want to use her as a surrogate; she's showing some characteristics we aren't thrilled with, and I think it's partly that she's not used to being in this kind of environment. She came out of field with other mares at our Vet's place, so perhaps she's better off there. She belongs to our Vet anyway, so we may be sending her back and having him look for another mare for us. We have lots of time until next spring until we have to get rolling with the breeding.<br /><br />Sometimes you think you're doing a favour, and then it all goes to hell in a handbasket. Luckily all the horses are fine; Rochelle and Midnight are together again in the field, BFFs.<br /><br />Then my own personal OMG moment: yesterday, after we'd done all the work I decided to walk around the field before I went home to see if I could find Midnight's halter, which he managed to get rid of at some point. I walked down to the bottom of our 5 acre field, along the fence between the field and the blueberry farm next door, by the little stand of trees and bushes. The fence there is a bit on the rickity side, on our list of things to fix. I walked along the path and found a whole section of the fence that was down, which left a perfect access to the berry fields. I could just imagine Midnight getting in there. I spent the next hour fixing the fence as best I could. It's not great, but safe enough until Jack can fix it on the weekend. Funny thing, we are so careful to double chain the field gate but the back entrance was left open! Yikes. Glad I decided to search for that halter. Didn't find it, BTW.<br /><br />This kind of excitement we can do without, thanks very much. :)<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=105208" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> commentstag:dreamwidth.org,2009-05-03:228443:104873If I'm posting, it must be Saturday.2014-08-24T04:30:30Z2014-08-24T04:30:30Zcontemplativepublic0Seems like I only have the time and energy to do this once a week lately. I keep saying that life is really busy, and it is, and I'm not complaining about it really, but where does the time go? I have thoughts about posting stuff, and then by the time I get home I seem to have lost those thoughts, so I end up just browsing around the internet. Oh well. Guess once a week is better than nothing, eh?<br /><br />I had a day to myself today, owing to a mixup with my work schedule. I thought I was booked for days today and tomorrow, but it turned out to be only tomorrow. Since everyone expected me to be at work, nobody was expecting to see me..so I just stayed home and relaxed, waiting for the Doctor Who premiere.<br /><br />I did clean out my closet (yesterday), after months of looking at it and thinking about doing it. Tossed a bunch of ratty tee shirts, threw out several pairs of shoes that were no longer fit for wearing, and bundled up a pile of clothes to take to the SPCA thrift store. What a wonderful feeling it was to get rid of all that old baggage. I open my closet door and just stare at the neatness that is in front of me...lovely.<br /><br />Walked up to the Library and took out a pile of books to read. Started one, quickly tossed it aside because I was bored after the first two chapters. The good thing about taking out Library books is that I don't feel compelled to read them because I've spent the money on them. LOL.<br /><br />I watched Doctor Who, and I was pleased. I like Peter Capaldi's Doctor, and I think it's going to be an interesting run.<br /><br />I started rewatching Farscape this week. Watched two episodes during my night shifts (Netflix on my phone! Ain't technology wonderful. Couldn't sleep on my breaks, so it was good to have something to entertain me. How I love that show. There is so little on TV now that I have any desire to watch; it makes me long for the good old days of Buffy, and the various Star Treks, when it was all new and shiny. <br /><br />I can't believe August is almost done. My garden is doing very nicely. I have had several good harvests of green beans, a few ripe tomatoes, some cucumbers and lots of kale and collard greens. It's growing almost in spite of me, because I certainly haven't put much effort into it beyond planting and watering. It's just great soil, good weather, and the natural tendency of plants to grow. Yay!! I'm going to be swamped by all the squash that's growing out on the manure pile in a couple of weeks; most of it is almost ready to pick, and there's a lot of it! Considering I didn't plant it on purpose, it's a nice little bonus. Tossing my kitchen scraps on the pile turns out to be a good thing. Full circle..squash seeds onto the pile, squash grows, gets eaten, squash seeds on the pile, round we go.<br /><br />The horses are all fine, the house is coming along, and before we know it, it will be fall. Already it's getting dark a lot earlier, as the days wind down.<br /><br />And now to bed.<br /><br /><img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=midnightsjane&ditemid=104873" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/> comments